Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly articles from September 2004

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly archives from September 2004

Putting The 'Anniversary Fee' To Rest In Massachusetts.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Lisa Bruno The state's controversial "anniversary fee" -- which imposed something of a tax on cases pending in court for a year -- was almost universally despised by Massachusetts lawyers. It was a nuisance for every lawyer in...

Commentary: Abuse Of Process And Anti-SLAPP: Proceed With Caution.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Adam N. Lewis Think twice before bringing a claim for abuse of process. Otherwise you may soon find yourself in the unenviable position of having to inform your client: (1) "you lost," (2) "you have to pay my legal bill," and (3)...

Massachusetts Governor Signs Bills: September 6, 2004.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The following bills have been signed into law by Gov. Mitt Romney. The anticipated effective dates are listed but are subject to change. The full text of statutes may be ordered from Lawyers...

Face To Face: Q&A With Coordinator of NEIP, pro bono project helping wrongfully convicted.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff As coordinator for the NEIP, Jennifer L. Chunias, a lawyer at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault in Boston, has played a key role in a project that has helped to free five men in the last three years who...

Mass. Appeals Court Case Summaries: September 6, 2004.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Judgments Affirmed The Appeals Court has affirmed, pursuant to Rule 1:28, judgments in the following cases. Although the decisions do not appear to address any substantive issues...

Mass. Commission Against Discrimination Case Summaries: September 6, 2004.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment National Origin Discrimination - Failure To Rehire Where a complainant claims to have been discriminated against on the basis of his Puerto Rican ancestry, the complaint must be...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: September 6, 2004.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals G.L.c. 211, Sect. 3 Petition - Small Claims Action Where an appellant, having lost an action in small claims court, sought relief pursuant to G.L.c. 211, Sect. 3, that petition was...

Mass. Superior Courts Case Summaries: September 6, 2004.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Negligence Case - Deposition Questions - Immigration Status Where (1) a plaintiff filed a personal injury suit against the defendant power companies, alleging that his...

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Admonitions: September 6, 2004.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Supreme Judicial Court No. 2004-061BD IN RE: STEPHEN C. MALONEY Supreme Judicial Court No. 2004-061BD IN RE: STEPHEN C. MALONEY Last known address: 156 State Street - 5th Fl. Boston, MA...

Commentary: Don't Worry, Be Happy ... Or, Don't.
September 6, 2004... Byline: David Yas It was subtle, but maybe you saw it. A few weeks ago in these very pages. An Internet poll asking Massachusetts lawyers: "All things being equal, if you had to do it all over again, would you become a lawyer?" ...

Real-Estate Agent Can't Be Sued For Bias, Rules Mass. Comm. Against Discrimination.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno A real-estate agent could not be sued under Chapter 151B for a landlord's decision not to rent to a prospective African-American tenant who received rental subsidies and had a minor child, the Massachusetts Commission...

Massachusetts Appeals Court Case Summaries: September 6, 2004.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Accounting Work Where a plaintiff accounting firm brought suit against two individual defendants whom it alleged owed it money for work performed on a personal matter involving...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: September 6, 2004.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Homestead - Conveyance - Reservation Where a Chapter 7 trustee has objected to the debtor's claim of a homestead exemption, the objection should be sustained in light of the...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: September 6, 2004.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Police Conduct - Restraining Order - Investigation And Prosecution Where a plaintiff contends that the defendant city of Peabody and codefendant police personnel violated the...

Verdicts & Settlements September 6, 2004: Premature Birth Blamed On Doctor.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $1.4 Million Settlement The minor plaintiff was born on Oct. 7, 1995, at 26 weeks gestation and weighing 1,025 gm. He suffered from spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy, and other...

Verdicts & Settlements September 6, 2004: Jury Finds Hit & Run Car Accident Was Staged.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $46,528 Defense Verdict The plaintiffs claimed to have been involved in a hit-and-run motor vehicle accident in Brockton and submitted claims for medical expenses, lost wages and uninsured...

Massachusetts Juvenile Court Issues Time Standards Order.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Juvenile Court Department STANDING ORDER 1-04 TIME STANDARDS The Juvenile Court Department has jurisdiction in three major case types...

Commentary: FLP Flips And Flops - Where Are We Now?
September 6, 2004... Byline: Kenneth P. Brier The family limited partnership (including its close cousin, the family limited liability company) has long served as the Swiss army knife of estate planning: effective in facilitating a number of possible family...

Lawyers Weekly Purchased By Minneapolis-based Dolan Media.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Dolan Media, a Minnesota company, purchased the parent company of Lawyers Weekly last week, promising to continue the success and reliability that have long been the hallmarks of the paper known as...

Verdicts & Settlements September 6, 2004: Baby Is Stillborn After Cord Becomes Entangled.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $525,000 Settlement The plaintiff was a 30-year-old woman, pregnant for the first time, in active labor when she came under the care of the defendant obstetrician on March 21, 2000. The...

Verdicts & Settlements September 6, 2004: Motorcyclist Killed By Pair Of Drunk Drivers.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $900,000 Settlement This case involved a married 32-year-old father of three minor children who was killed while driving his motorcycle to his place of employment in Wilmington in April 2002....

Verdicts & Settlements September 6, 2004: Woman Finds Lump, But Mammogram Not Ordered.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $800,000 Settlement The plaintiff's decedent was meticulous about performing monthly self-breast exams and having yearly physicals from her physician. In October 1996, she felt a hard, firm...

Verdicts & Settlements September 6, 2004: Shopper Falls In Grocery Store, Puddle Was Culprit.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Defense Verdict The plaintiff brought a negligence action for injuries allegedly sustained as a result of a slip and fall at the defendant's supermarket on Jan. 13, 2000. At trial, the...

Commentary: So Long To A Stalwart: Judge Paul G. Garrity.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Last month Massachusetts lost one of its most unique and respected figures with the passing of Judge Paul G. Garrity. Garrity was a personable, bold presence on the Superior Court bench, known...

Time Standards Announced For Massachusetts Land Court Cases.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff COMMONWEALTH OFMASSACHUSETTS LAND COURT DEPARTMENT OF THE TRIAL COURT STANDING ORDER NO. 1-04 TIME STANDARDS FOR CASES FILED IN THE LAND COURT DEPARTMENT A. General...

Injured Plaintiff Gets $2.5M In Case Against 'Contractor'.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Tony Wright Can a personal-injury plaintiff successfully sue for injuries caused by an independent contractor despite caselaw that suggests no liability in such situations? A recent $2.5 million settlement indicates that the...

Support Order May Be Increased After Husband's Raise, Rules Mass. Appeals Court.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Jason M. Scally A divorced father may be ordered to pay increased child support payments where his salary had more than doubled since the time of the original divorce judgment -- even though his wife's salary had increased as well,...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: September 6, 2004.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Surety - Assignment Where a beneficiary of a surety bond assigned its interests under the bond to a third party, the assignee's complaint for enforcement of the bond was properly...

Commentary: Drafting Considerations For Asset Protection Trusts.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Alexander A. Bove Jr. and Melissa Langa Language is the currency of the law. And perhaps no more so than in the challenging task of drafting an asset protection trust to be administered in a foreign jurisdiction (a foreign asset...

Verdicts & Settlements September 6, 2004: Teen Develops Nerve, Muscle Damage After Surgery.
September 6, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $450,000 Settlement This action arose from alleged negligent treatment rendered by the defendant general surgeon to a 17-year-old male during surgical excision of a lymph node in the...

Debtor's Home Unprotected Despite Homestead Declaration, Rules U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Jason M. Scally Debtors in Chapter 7 bankruptcy should not be able to protect their residence from claims made by a mortgage holder where the mortgage was filed after an earlier homestead declaration, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge...

Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Body Search Warrant - Evidence Of Resistance Where a defendant has been convicted of armed assault with intent to kill, the conviction should be affirmed because the defendant was...

Mass. Superior Courts Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Fees - Insurance Dispute - G.L.c. 93A Where a judge has ruled that a plaintiff proved a G.L.c. 93A violation by a defendant insurance company, I find that the plaintiff is...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Homestead Exemption - Mortgage Where a bank seeks relief under 11 U.S.C. Sect. 362(d)(1) and (2) to pursue its remedies under a mortgage it holds on the residence of the...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Settlement - Liquidating Agent Where a debtor corporation's liquidating supervisor settled in full a former employee's claim for severance pay, the former employee was properly...

1st Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya's Scrabble.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Anyone familiar with 1st Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya's flowery decisions knows that they can require a dictionary. Test your knowledge with this pop quiz of some of Selya's most recent recondite...

What A Week(s): Massachusetts lawyer wrestles down purse-snatcher.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff You can run, but you can't hide. At least not from a trial lawyer in dogged pursuit. That was the case for a purse-snatcher who was wrestled down by Randall T. Weeks on Aug. 24. The...

Contingent Fees Paid To Discharged Attorneys? Mass. Supreme Judicial Court To Decide.
September 13, 2004... Byline: John O. Cunningham The Supreme Judicial Court is slated to hear arguments on whether a lawyer discharged by his client after working on a contingent-fee basis is entitled to some compensation from a replacement attorney who later...

Massachusetts Lawyers in the News: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff NewsMakers New Associations Elizabeth D. Smith has joined the Boston office of Nixon Peabody in the technology & intellectual property practice group. She will focus her practice on...

Boston attorney Roland Orlandi dies at 68 years of age.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Roland Orlandi, an attorney who spent 30 years in private practice, died Aug. 24 at Massachusetts General Hospital of pancreatic cancer. He was 68. Orlandi was born in Boston and worked as a...

Massachusetts District Courts Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Public Works - Road Maintenance And Repair Where a number of claims have been filed by the parties in a dispute regarding road maintenance and repair work performed in Needham, I...

Mass. Land Courts Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Contempt - Failure To Pay Legal Fees And Costs Where a plaintiff (1) unsuccessfully sued the defendant, (2) was ordered to pay the defendant $1,000 in legal fees and costs...

U.S. Magistrate Judges Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Remarks At Parade - Disorderly Conduct Arrest Where a defendant police officer arrested a plaintiff for disorderly conduct at a parade after the plaintiff (1) shouted...

Verdicts & Settlements September 13, 2004: Woman Suffers Permanent Injury After Procedure.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $700,000 Settlement The defendant general surgeon allegedly failed to correctly identify ductal anatomy of a 26-year-old woman during laparoscopic cholecystectomy, causing permanent injury to...

Verdicts & Settlements September 13, 2004: Fall River Sues Over Long-Running Landfill Dispute.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $8.5 Million Award The plaintiff city had filed an action against the defendant company in 2001. Specifically, the plaintiff claimed the defendant violated a 1989 agreement between the two...

Commentary: Finding The Right Way To Explain A Negative.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Stephen E. Seckler Daniel Smart was having a difficult time with his job search. Dan (whose name has been changed for this article) had an impressive resume. He graduated with honors from a top law school and spent four years at a...

Federal Sentencing: 'Blakely' And Beyond.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff For several years, federal judges, criminal defense attorneys and even some prosecutors criticized the federal sentencing guidelines as unfair, unnecessarily complex and often times overly harsh....

Lawyers: Movin' Out.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Tony Wright Who gets to use the elevators? That's just one of a thousand logistical questions that the team assembled to manage the move of Palmer & Dodge had to address. After decades at its old One Beacon St. location, in...

Commentary: Julia Child: A Lawyer's Reminiscence.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Joseph D. Steinfield According to Julia Child, the stars were in "the right alignment" when she began her historic television career on Channel 2 in the early 1960s. The same could be said of the good fortune of three Harvard...

William E. Booth dies after horse-riding accident.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff William E. Booth, who specialized in patent interference and was known for his talent in patent drafting and prosecution, died Aug. 29 after a horse-riding accident in Chester, N.H. He was 51. ...

Michael T. Siekman has joins Boston office of Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks as counsel.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Michael T. Siekman has joined the Boston office of Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks as counsel. Siekman, who concentrates his practice on patent prosecution and is experienced in all areas of patent...

Mass. Appellate Division Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Insurance PIP - Small Claims Actions - Transfer Where a plaintiff chiropractor moved to transfer to the regular civil docket his two small claims actions against the defendant insurance...

Mass. Appeals Court Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Alcoholic Beverages - G.L.c. 138, Sect. 25E Where a defendant purchased certain brands of gin and scotch pursuant to a divestiture imposed by the Federal Trade Commission...

Verdicts & Settlements September 13, 2004: County Took Parcel In Nantucket, Paid $1 In Damages.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $3 Million Settlement The plaintiff administrator succeeded in obtaining compensation for the heirs of the decedent, his great-great-grandfather who died in 1848, after the Nantucket County...

Verdicts & Settlements September 13, 2004: Temp Employee Fractures Heels After Falling At Work.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $360,000 Settlement The plaintiff, a 44-year-old male, was an employee through a temporary employment agency working at a manufacturing plant. On June 6, 2002, the plaintiff was instructed...

Verdicts & Settlements September 13, 2004: Man Bleeds To Death During Hernia Surgery.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $350,000 Settlement This action arose from medical care and treatment rendered by the defendant general surgeon to a 58-year-old man, allegedly resulting in his death by exsanguinations during...

Verdicts & Settlements September 13, 2004: Ankle Fracture Leads To Complications, Death Results.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $1.5 Million Settlement This case involved claims of conscious pain and suffering and the wrongful death of a 37-year-old woman who died on Dec. 29, 2001, of a fracture of the left ankle...

Massachsetts Governor Signs Bills: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The following bills have been signed into law by Gov. Mitt Romney. The anticipated effective dates are listed but are subject to change. The full text of statutes may be ordered from Lawyers...

Support Money Upped For Nobel-Prize Father.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Tony Wright A judge may order a divorced father to pay an increased amount of child support based on his enhanced earning potential after winning the Nobel Prize, the Appeals Court has ruled. The father argued that the wife...

Trial lawyer William F. Meara dies after long illness.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff William F. Meara, a trial lawyer for more than 40 years, died Aug. 25 at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth after a long illness. He was 80. Meara was born in South Weymouth and received a B.A....

Mass. Dept. of Industrial Accidents Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Causation - IME Where an employee's workers' compensation benefits were ordered terminated, that decision must be reversed based on the sufficiency of the evidence...

Mass. Commission Against Discrimination Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Petition For Review Where a complainant (1) has filed a timely notice of appeal of a hearing officer's adverse decision but (2) has not filed a petition for review in compliance...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: September 13, 2004.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Disbarment - Amended Complaint Where a plaintiff attorney, having brought suit seeking injunctive relief in connection with a state-level disbarment proceeding, now moves for...

Verdicts & Settlements September 13, 2004: Baby Born With Hypoxic Brain Injury.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff This case involved a 6-year-old girl who was born with a significant hypoxic brain injury. The plaintiff alleged that the first defendant doctor negligently failed to perform a timely...

Day-To-Day Fact Patterns Were Key To $100K Bias Case.
September 13, 2004... Byline: Lisa K. Bruno How did an attorney garner a $100,000 emotional distress award before the MCAD in a case that admittedly involved "subtle" indicia of discrimination? The lawyer says the key to the case was detailing day-to-day...

A New Era In Confessions.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff The Supreme Judicial Court, whether it intended to or not, ushered in a new era in criminal evidence-gathering when it expressed a preference toward recorded confessions in a criminal case. In...

The Guardian Crisis: Lawyers Struggle With Court-Appointed Cases.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Jason Scally By now, most lawyers are familiar with the bar-advocate crisis and the specter of criminal defendants going unrepresented because lawyers can't afford to take their cases at the paltry sum offered by the state. ...

Massachusetts attorney's baseball memorabilia collection leads to speech at Hall of Fame.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff When Salem lawyer Alan S. Pierce bought a Red Sox shirt autographed by Ted Williams at a Jimmy Fund event seven years ago, he never dreamed it would land him in the Hall of Fame. Pierce,...

Picture This: Portrain Unveiled of 1st Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff If a picture is worth a thousand words, then 1st Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya must be the Oxford English Dictionary on canvas. Selya, a notorious wordsmith whose opinions are sprinkled with...

Mass. Superior Courts Case Summaries: September 20, 2004.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Handicap Discrimination - Misconduct Where a plaintiff diagnosed with bipolar disorder has filed a handicap discrimination suit against the defendant university which fired him...

1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: September 20, 2004.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Forum Selection Clause - Injury On Cruise Ship Where (1) a plaintiff passenger filed a negligence action in Massachusetts federal district court against a defendant cruise line...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: September 20, 2004.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Disbarment - Injunction Request Where the plaintiff, a Massachusetts attorney acting pro se, has requested a preliminary and permanent injunction preventing the Supreme Judicial...

Verdicts & Settlements September 20, 2004: Driver Hurt When Tree Falls On Car.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Defense Verdict This case arose from an accident that occurred on South Street in Tewksbury, in front of the defendants' house, on Sept. 17, 1999. The plaintiff was driving on South Street...

Verdicts & Settlements September 20, 2004: Woman's Bile Duct Injured During Gallbladder Surgery.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $500,000 Settlement This action arose from medical care rendered to a 41-year-old woman during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The defendant surgeon failed to take an intraoperative...

Dram Shop Suit Denied Where No Signs Of Intoxication, Rules Mass. Superior Court judge.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Jason M. Scally A restaurant that served a patron one alcoholic drink -- after he had previously consumed multiple drinks at another establishment -- should not be held liable for a fatal car accident when there was no evidence he...

Mass. Dept. of Industrial Accidents Case Summaries: September 20, 2004.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Foot Injuries Where an administrative judge ordered an employee paid medical benefits under G.L.c. 152, Sects. 13 and 30, we hold that the award was supported by...

Other Mass. Agencies Case Summaries: September 20, 2004.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Elections Constituent Services Website - Student Assistance Where a state senator has a constituent services website, it is our opinion that students at a regional public vocational school...

Verdicts & Settlements September 20, 2004: Man Claims Injuries After Rear-End Car Accident.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Defense Verdict On Dec. 20, 1999, the plaintiff was rear-ended by the defendant on Route 114 in Salem. Though the defendant maintained that it was a low-speed impact resulting in very little...

Verdicts & Settlements September 20, 2004: Temp Worker Learning To Operate Forklift Injured.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff $850,000 Settlement On April 4, 2002, the plaintiff, age 19, was a temporary worker at the defendant's pet supply warehouse in Mansfield doing general labor. The defendant's safety supervisor...

Q&A with John T. Lu.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Alyssa Cutler When John T. Lu was appointed to the bench, he looked to the judges he had met and practiced before for qualities to emulate -- such as the humility of Neil J. Walker, the respect with which Robert L. Barton treated...

No Bias Claim For Bipolar Worker Fired After Outburst, Rules Mass. Superior Court Judge.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Tony Wright An employee with bipolar disorder could not sue the university where he worked for wrongly firing him -- even though he was terminated for a manic outburst caused by his illness, a Superior Court judge has ruled. ...

Debtor's Switch To Chapter 13 Is Rejected, Rules 1st Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.
September 20, 2004... Byline: John O. Cunningham A debtor who filed defective disclosure schedules in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy did not have an absolute right to switch to a Chapter 13 reorganization of debt, the 1st Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel has ruled....

Mass. Appeals Court Case Summaries: September 20, 2004.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Destruction Of Dogs - Viciousness Where a Superior Court judge denied the plaintiffs' petition for certiorari in connection with a defendant town's order to destroy the...

U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Case Summaries: September 20, 2004.
September 20, 2004... Byline: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Conversion - Bad Faith Where a court denied a Chapter 7 debtor's request for Chapter 13 conversion, the order should be affirmed in light of the debtor's bad faith. ...